Friends Academy falls in state semifinal

CICERO, N.Y. -- There were smiles, playful gestures and kudos among teammates as Friends Academy walked off the Cicero-North Syracuse field Saturday night. The players had already given themselves the pep talk.

"The fact that we're here and we played as hard as we did, I feel like we won this," defender Jalisa Clark said. "Despite what the scoreboard says."

But what the scoreboard said was: 4-1, Greenwich in the state Class C semifinal.

Friends Academy's improbable run ended as Dani DeGregory's two goals and two assists led Greenwich to the state final.

What was learned from this game? Well, the Witches are as good as their 21-0 record. They entered the game having outscored opponents 83-1.

But take nothing from Friends Academy (10-7). The Quakers and their supporters already have perspective. "We didn't even know how our team was going to be in the beginning [of the season]," forward Erica Sklar said. "And then look where we got."

Friends Academy graduated a slew of key players from last year's 13-3 squad and Bridie Gahan, their leading scorer of the previous two years, missed the season after hip surgery. Many, including the Quakers themselves, believed this to be the rebuilding season. Coming off a sixth straight Nassau Class C title, 2011 wasn't supposed to be their year. And an 0-5 start gave some credence to that.

That they were able to make the trip to the state tournament meant the Quakers exceeded expectations; exceeded their recent accomplishments, winning the Long Island title for the first time since 2006.

"Even with the loss," Savannah Febesh said, "this was definitely a season to be proud of."

Greenwich got on the board 7:12 in on Sam Linnett's goal, inside the left post. Abby Dusha scored at 20:12 of the first half, and DeGregory's first goal gave the Witches a 3-0 lead.

"We knew Friends was a good team and they had skills, but we found out that they're tough," DeGregory said. "They showed us something in that second half. We jumped on them and some teams would've given up, but they played even harder in the second half."

The Witches face defending Class C champion Cazenovia in the final at 2 p.m. Sunday.